Graceful Serenity
an excerpt

“One for sorrow, Two for joy, Three for a girl, Four for a boy, Five for silver, Six for gold, Seven for my secrets that never will be told.” She raised her eyes to meet his. “Find the seventh, find the secrets never told. The seventh door”

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Tobias stood perfectly still. He could have been a statue in the darkened room. Anyone not looking closely would most likely have mistaken him for one. The large room was filled with an eerie green light, and the high walls twisted, turned and split into up to three different ways frequently. But he ignored all of that. The two short blades he held in either hand reflected no light as he held them angled away from the dim lights, again perfectly still like the rest of him. He stood with his eyes closed in the darkest shadows of the room. Listening. Anyone watching would have seen nothing. Heard nothing. The room was deathly silent. The darkness adding to the eerie atmosphere of the place.
Suddenly, his dark eyes flew open, and he spun around, the two swords dancing in his hands as he lashed out at the silent visitor, who cursed loudly as he brought up his own long sword to block his attack. The two of them danced back and forwards, the two tall shapes with blades flashing in their hands. When the two of them split for a second, Tobias analysed his opponent swiftly. The boy opposite him was taller and built bigger than he was, and obviously a bit older, though not by much. In his right hand he held a single thin long blade, which swung in his hands perfectly balanced as if it weighed nothing. Tobias himself was tall, but built small and slim, with dark hair and eyes, yet pale skin. The dark clothes that he wore helped him to blend into the shadows better, making it harder for his opponent.
The slight twitch in the boy opposites arm showed how he was about to attack and Tobias swung his own weapons up to meet his with a loud clash of metal. Sparks flew off the blades as they ran down each other with a screech, and Tobias’ arms screamed in pain as his opponent pushed down on him hard with all of his weight. Although he was smaller and quicker than his opponent, in this kind of situation if he didn’t escape quickly things would end badly for him. The weight of the boy pushing down on his blades forced him to his knees, and he felt the blades creep closer to his chest and stomach, calling to tear him in half and spill his blood to the floor.
Shifting his feet slightly, Tobias suddenly stopped pushing back on the boy above him, and used the force instead to slide himself forwards between the boys legs. The boy let out a cry of surprise as the three blades smashed into the floor barely an inch above Tobias’ head. Tobias let out another roar of pain as he felt the boy’s leg smash into his own. Sparks flew from the blades and the metal floor, and Tobias used the boy’s momentary surprise to kick his legs upwards, flinging the boy forwards, so he landed sprawled on the floor a short way away. Kicking his legs back, he flipped himself back onto his feet, as the other boy pushed himself up at the same time.
By this point both boys were shaking, yet their hands and arms were steady, holding the blades as still and steady as they had been at the beginning. They circled each other warily, neither taking their eyes off the other, each waiting for the other to attack, neither wanting to make the first move. The boy opposite Tobias had a gash on his forehead which leaked blood, and Tobias could taste his own blood in his mouth, staining his teeth and lips red. Suddenly, as one, the two of them leapt forwards with equal shouts, the sharpened blades driving towards the others fragile flesh. The blades met once more with a clash, and the deadly dance began again. The blades flashed in the dim light, hungry for blood, and the clashing of metal was deafening in the usually silent maze. The boy kicked out with one of his powerfully strong legs, connecting with Tobias’ stomach, sending him flying backwards into one of the walls. He fell to his knees, choking for breath and on his own blood. The boy leapt after him, thinking he had won. At the last second, Tobias summoned up a surge of strength, and dived forwards to meet the boy; colliding with his legs and sending him head first into the wall.
Still coughing, Tobias struggled to his feet, exhaustion threatening to overwhelm him. The boy also pulled himself up, now holding the blade in his left hand, his right held at an awkward angle. The question in the fight now remained as to who would run out of strength first. Both boys were exhausted. Still they met once again in the middle, still fighting ferociously, though the tiredness now showed in each of their techniques. Now slices of blood appeared on each of them, drawing more and more out of them as they fought. Suddenly, they both slipped, both saw the opportunity, and before either saw what was happening two blades were at the larger boys throat, his long blade digging into Tobias’ side, pointed upwards at a lethal angle.
The two of them froze, both breathing hard, blood covering them. Tobias held both of his blades still steady, though his arms were now screaming with tiredness. The boy’s eyes locked with his, and they held like that, neither moving. A line of blood appeared at the edges of the boy’s neck where Tobias’ blades dug in, and he could feel the sharp point of the boy’s blade piercing into his skin slowly. Neither moved. Even less than a millimetre would mean death for the both of them.
An alarm sounded suddenly, splitting into the silence like a knife. The noise crashed into their ears, screaming and deafening. Both boys drew back automatically, Leaving blood at ones neck, the others side. The larger boy dropped his blade as the siren reached its ear splitting pitch, and clamped both of his hands over his ears, falling to his knees and opening his mouth in a yell of pain that Tobias could not hear over the noise. He managed to just about sheath his own blades, before gripping his ears and the side of his head, trying to stop the intense pain that exploded in his brain. Screaming in agony, he fell to the floor, the alarm so loud and intense that he could not hear his own screams. Darkness pricked at the edges of his vision, and the eerie green lit room spun before him. He was dimly aware of the boy ahead of him in a similar state as he fell sideways to the floor.
The alarm suddenly stopped, and the sudden silence was almost worse. His hands fell from his ears, his arms now too exhausted to be held up any more. He though he saw the other boy manage to struggle to his knees. He tried to scream out against the intense pain in his head, but his voice seemed to have been lost in the silence. Dimly aware of someone, possibly the boy, calling his name, but they seemed so far away. The darkness enclosed around him, and he fell into the endless blackness, painless and free.